Police in the southern Turkish province of Adana on Tuesday seized 72 engines removed from cars stolen in Turkey and other countries. Two suspects running the garage, where the engines were found, have been detained.
Security forces raided the garage in the province’s Seyhan district as part of an investigation into thefts of luxury cars stolen in other countries. Police discovered 76 engines in the garage. Out of the engines, one of them was damaged, and three had had their registration number erased. After contacting Interpol, who provided data on the engines, officers discovered that the engines belonged to cars stolen in Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Algeria, France, South Korea, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Egypt, Russia and Slovenia.
The suspects are accused of installing the engines in other cars of the same brands or similar models. This is a common type of fraud known as “change” fraud in Turkey, in which stolen car parts are “laundered” via reinstallation in damaged cars. The scheme often involves the forgery of registration numbers, which makes it difficult to keep track of the cars. Often, cars that are slightly damaged but deemed unsafe to drive are made "roadworthy" once again thanks to the stolen parts.
The engines were reportedly shipped to Turkey from other countries. The suspects told police that they had “imported” the engines as new, though investigators found some appeared “used,” with clear evidence that the suspects running tests on them.
